Tag Archives: Feeding

Black-winged Kites of Tuas Grassland

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In 2011, there was a disused plot of land at Tuas West Drive in Singapore that used to be a motorsport venue. Once abandoned, nature reclaimed it and it became a temporary grassland. That place was informally called Tuas grassland by those in the know.

As the grassland proliferated, birds and other creatures found the habitat useful. One species that came in was the Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus), a handsome predator of small mammals and birds.

A family grew there and they became stars of the place with at least 2 broods raised. Many photographers went there specially to photographed them, including me.

Of course, all good things must come to an end somehow. The plot of land is now being developed and the habitat is gone.

Just wanted to share some pictures and videos that I took of the Black-winged Kites that used to populate it.


An adult having a meal of rat. The usual eat, wipe, poop and fly-away routine.
 

Black-winged Kite
A juvenile awaiting food from it’s parent. There were 2 other juvenile birds and each have to fight for it’s own share.
 

An adult hunting sequence:

Black-winged Kite
A typical hunting hover of a Black-winged Kite. Once it finds the prey with the use of it’s keen eyes, it will plunge down at high speed to catch and kill.
 

Black-winged Kite
A successful hunt, with what looks like an unfortunate White-breasted Waterhen chick. By the time it takes flight, the waterhen is likely to have been killed as a live prey would be too hard for it to handle in-flight.
 

Black-winged Kite
Settling down to a bare tree, it was rather unconcerned about my proximity. It proceeded to de-feather and eat the freshly killed prey as shown in the video below.
 


The video of a meal of juvenile waterhen.
 

Green Imperial Pigeon – Status in Singapore

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The Green Imperial Pigeon (Ducula aenea) is a species of forest pigeon. It a large bird, with green-blue metallic sheen on its wings, back and tail. Its head and underparts are off-white.

Its usual range covers southern Asia from India to Indonesia

Historically, this species have been listed as a resident in small numbers at the coastal area (Gibson-Hill 1949)1

Presently in Singapore, it is listed as a non-breeding visitor with it’s usual stronghold in Pulau Tekong where sightings are more common.

Green Imperial Pigeon

In 2011, they were sighted in the adjacent Pulau Ubin between the months of June and August. Up to 5 were perched on a single tree in one afternoon.

Green Imperial Pigeon

Green Imperial Pigeon

Green Imperial Pigeon

Green Imperial Pigeon

In the mainland, there were sightings in Pasir Ris Park area in early 2012. In March 2013, the birds were seen in an industrial estate in Loyang. Ever since then, they has made regular appearances there, whenever the Macarthur Palm (Ptychosperma macarthurii) fruits in the area.

As an observation, the pigeons swallow the ripe palm fruits whole as the sequence of pictures shows.

Green Imperial Pigeon

Green Imperial Pigeon

With the knowledge of the regular presence of the pigeon in the area, the first report of nesting came in late March 2014, with a single chick hatched subsequently. By May 2014, it seems that the chick has fledged and with that the first breeding record of this species have been documented.

In the span of 3 years, this species appears to have dispersed from Pulau Tekong to Pulau Ubin and then to the mainland. And finally in an unlikely turn of events, it started breeding in an industrial estate, feeding mainly on an introduced exotic palm species.

References
1. Gibson-Hall (1949) A Checklist of the Birds of Singapore Island

Red-billed Blue Magpie – Status in Singapore

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The Red-billed Blue Magpie (Urocissa erythrorhyncha) is a striking looking magpie species. As the name suggest, it has a red bill and also red legs. It’s head, neck and breast are black with a bluish spotting on the crown. It’s shoulders and rump are a duller blue and the underparts are a greyish cream. The long tail is a brighter blue.

Red-billed Blue Magpie

It’s usual range cover northern India, the Himalayas, northern parts of South East Asia up to China.

It’s presence in Singapore has been reported dating back to at least 2001 (wildbirdSingapore)1. Reports of sightings have been concentrated mainly in the Southern Ridges, covering anywhere from Mount Faber to Kent Ridge Park and adjacent areas.

It has been speculated that the birds originated from the illegal bird smuggling activities from  the southern coast and outer islands of Singapore as illegal smugglers came in from the Riau Islands, with reports of housing station for these birds located along Pasir Panjang Road (wildbirdSingapore)1

Whatever the case of their origin, the magpies have been around for more than a dozen years with regular sightings ever since with individual sightings of 9-10 birds reported. Have they established a feral population or are the sightings of original released/escaped birds? No one can be certain, as magpies in general can live up to a decade, and breeding records are not available.

What we do know is that these magpies have been mating. This have been observed in April 2013 in the below photographs.

Red-billed Blue Magpie

Notice the position of the male’s legs. One is wedged on the female’s leg to prevent her from jumping off. The other is holding on to the wings of the female to prevent flying.

Red-billed Blue Magpie

The actual act, like most other birds mating is brief and vigorous. No further observations of the fate of these birds as they tend to roam around. No nesting records are known.

So what is their diet?

Red-billed Blue Magpie

The partial answer is that sometimes they visit nearby buildings to rummage through the nearby garbage collection points. Here it is observed eating cooked rice grains from one such building.

What we can conclude is that there magpies are roaming around the Southern Ridges, are adaptable enough to be around for more than a decade, have managed to adapt at least some parts of their diet to reflect their urban settings.

Most of the pictures taken here are from my office building which is opposite Kent Ridge Park over a period of 3 years. And in most of the sighting, they come in pairs or in groups.

I leave you with some more pictures of these magnificent, hardy birds.

Red-billed Blue Magpie

Red-billed Blue Magpie

 

http://youtu.be/Tvr53mWV-Ho

Video taken handheld and stabilized in post. Please pardon the jerkiness.

 

Reference:
1. wildbirdSingapore Yahoo Group